I research British ideas of Asia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with particular focus on representations of the “East” in travel writing, material culture, and fiction. Publications include (with Tomoe Kumojima) Pacific Gateways: Trans-Oceanic Narratives and Anglophone Literature" (Palgrave, 2024); (with Alex Watson) "British Romanticism in Asia: The Reception, Translation, and Transformation of British Literature in India and East Asia" (Palgrave, 2019). I have also edited a special issue of Studies in Travel Writing (with Steve Clark, 21.1: 2017), focusing on the Victorian traveller Isabella Bird. I am one of the series editors of the Palgrave “Asia-Pacific and Literature in English” series. In 2025-26 I will be on sabbatical, working on a book project on utopianism and British writing on Japan.

travel writing, British eighteenth / nineteenth century literature, representations of Japan, postcolonial theory

Seminar: Studies in British History and Culture (Legacies of the British Empire) This is open to students who are working on graduation theses, or who want to do guided research on topics related to British history, culture, politics, or literature. Lecture courses: British History and Culture in a Global Context 1 and 2 British Imperialism and Postcolonialism

My seminar is titled "Legacies of the British Empire". It focuses on British imperialism from the 17th century to the 21st century, including the slave trade, colonialism (in the Americas and Asia), the East India Company, travellers and explorers, and decolonization. Possible topics might include: ● The Atlantic slave trade ● Christianity and slavery ● Ideas of Japan in British travel writing ● British relations with China during the 19th century ● British food and its connection with empire ● Victorian adventure stories set in Africa ● The James Bond films and British identity ● The British monarchy and the Commonwealth ● British immigration policy after Brexit